A
chance encounter over the internet by top local junior
player Justin Blackman of Queens College, followed by an
innocent suggestion of “why not come to Barbados
instead” was all it took to get the phones ringing
between New York and Barbados.

This week, Round-Up would like to offer a warm Bajan
welcome to Grandmaster Maurice Ashley and his family who
are schedule to arrive in Barbados today for a short
working holiday, thanks to Blackman’s suggestion.

Ashley made history in 1999 when he became the first and
to date only African-American to attain the coveted
title of International Grand Master of Chess.

At
the time the story was covered in Time Magazine, USA
Today, New York Times, Sports Illustrated, London Times,
Ebony, and a host of other papers around the world.

He
has appeared on The Charlie Rose Show, CBS News This
Morning, National Public Radio, Today New York (W-NBC),
CNN, Bloomberg Radio, and a number of radio shows around
the U.S.

It
was not long before the US and international sports
press realized his natural ability in front and behind
the camera that he became one of the most sought after
public speakers and chess commentators in the world.

Those who had the opportunity to see his ESPN coverage
of the historic 1996 Man vs. Machine match between Gray
Kasparov vs. Deep Blue and the rematch in 1997 would
remember how accessible he made a very complicated sport
to the non-chess player.

Ashley treats the chessboard like a playing field and
the players like real life athletes.

"Chess is a sport," said Ashley when interviewed by
Contemporary Black Biography. "It's competitive, it's
work, it's pressure, it's tension, it's pain, it's guts
and glory, and disappointment and defeat. All the
classic sports metaphors are in chess, so it was very
easy for me to transfer many of the ideas that I found
in the sports world to the chessboard."

Often called the
Tiger Woods
of Chess, Ashley names Woods, Arthur Ashe and Jackie
Robinson as his inspirations and role models.

In speaking about the influence of Woods in his quest to
become a Grandmaster, Ashley recounts:

“I had been dreaming about being a grandmaster for over
a decade, but life had seemed to be constantly pulling
me in different directions. I was a national
championship coach, a commentator, and a designer of my
own CD-ROM. I was married to a beautiful wife and I had
a little girl that was Daddy's pride and joy.”

“Still I was depressed because the dream that I felt
should surely have been mine had remained elusive as
ever. There was not a day that went by, I didn't think
about the fact that I was not a Grandmaster. I was
getting older and I thought my chance might never come.
Then Tiger Woods arrived onto the scene.”

“Tiger's passion for excellence was clear. He had won
many amateur tournaments, but it was his historic win in
April of 1997, at the Masters, by an unheard of 12
strokes that captivated my imagination…and sent me
deeper into my depression.”

“Here was a man dominating at the highest level of a
sport that had once kept out his kind. He had literally
smashed all the barriers with his greatness, making it
look easy in the process. It took four days for him to
change the world of golf. He showed that a person of
color could excel in anything.”

Sadly this story is one shared by many of the English
Speaking Caribbean’s top players who obviously have the
talent but see their dream drifting elusively further
away as each year goes by. This is why, in Black
History Month, Ashley’s visit to Barbados is such a
treat for the local chess community and the public.

Whether you play chess or not, have a passing curiosity
about the game either as a parent of a child who has
just learnt the game or someone wishes to learn the
game, the Barbados Chess Federation (BCF) invites one
and all to a free public lecture by Ashley on Tuesday
February 19th at the L.V. Harcourt Lewis
Training Centre in Belmont Road at 7:00 p.m.

The journey from promise to achievement of the
Grandmaster title is a story that will resonate with not
only the likes of our own Dr. Philip Corbin, Kevin
Denny, Delisle Warner and Terry Farley but our next
generation of juniors like The Lodge School’s Martyn Del
Castilho, Queens College’s Justin Blackman, UWI’s Shamel
Howell, Alex Jackman and Asabi Layne of Lester Vaughn,
and Corrine Howard of Barbados Community College.

On
Wednesday February 20th, Ashley will give a
clock simultaneous exhibition against thirty students
drawn from nine secondary schools and UWI at The Lodge
School. This simul launches 2008 United Insurance
Inter-school Team Tournament and starts at 1:00 p.m. The
BCF would like to remind teachers/coaches that all
participants must be at the The Lodge by 12:45 p.m.
latest.